Representatives from Hyundai Asan, the operator of tour programs to North Korea, are expected to visit the North's Mount Geumgang next Thursday.

Pyongyang has summoned all South Korean owners of Geumgang property to the mountain resort before next Thursday for a probe into tourism programs. The programs, stalled for over a year and a half, have been a huge source of income for the impoverished state.

A source from Hyundai Asan says that the Unification Ministry has approved the cross-border visits by concerned companies and that Hyundai Asan officials will head to the North to hear what Pyongyang has to say.

Hyundai said that the North's threat to confiscate properties if South Korean firms reject the summons is more than a setback on investment, but could also diminish progress made in inter-Korean business projects in the past ten years and could hurt overall bilateral relations.

Hyundai Asan has invested 226 billion won in the North's Mount Geumgang district to build pavilions, harbors and roads and has a 50-year lease to use them.